I didn't get a lot done today; I'm trying not to guilt-trip about it, particularly since I managed to travel quite far on the guilt express last week.

But I did water my orchids.

And I spent some quality time chatting with a friend this afternoon.

The laundry will have to wait until tomorrow's guilt-trip.

8:32:02 PM    comment []

Here’s an excerpt from a wonderful piece – can you guess who wrote it?

While the European democracies unraveled into fascism, America confronted the same devastating Depression by reaffirming its democracy. It enacted minimum-wage and Social Security laws to foster a middle class, passed income taxes and anti-trust legislation to limit the power of corporations and the wealthy, and commissioned parks, public lands and museums to create employment and safeguard the commons.

The best way to judge the effectiveness of a democracy is to measure how it allocates the goods of the land: Does the government protect the commonwealth on behalf of all the community members, or does it allow wealth and political clout to steal the commons from the people?

Today, George W. Bush and his court are treating our country as a grab bag for the robber barons, doling out the commons to large polluters. Last year, as the calamitous rollbacks multiplied, the corporate-owned TV networks devoted less than four percent of their news minutes to environmental stories. If they knew the truth, most Americans would share my fury that this president is allowing his corporate cronies to steal America from our children.

Well?  Post your guess in comments.  I’ll check back mid-day tomorrow to see if you’ve figured it out – or if you already read this piece.

8:28:31 PM    comment []